Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 55.3: Nayland is older than 97% of UK towns
The share of married adults and civil partners tops 89% of UK towns: 55%. 963 residents in 420 households: that is Nayland at the 2021 Census. On the census count, 8.7% of households have no car or van. Compared with other places, households in flats are scarce here: 3%, fewer than in 93% of UK towns.
37% of residents are 65 or over, a share 98% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.1% here and 12% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
3.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 97% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
By class, just over two in five adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 16% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Just over one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Fewer households with dependent children than 86% of UK towns: 23%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Suffolk’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Set against 30% across England’s towns, 32% of households are one person living alone in Nayland. Higher than in 52% of UK towns: 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. For households with dependent children, the comparison across England’s towns is 29%.
39% of households live in a detached house, more than in 74% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Here just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. What’s more, 3% of households live in a flat, less than in 93% of UK towns; 39% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 92% of UK towns: 99%
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
5.5% of residents were born outside the UK (England’s towns: 18%). Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.4%), then in Africa (1.2%). The benchmark for residents whose main language is English across England’s towns: 90%.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 92% of UK towns: 59%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 96% of Nayland · Suffolk’s towns 86% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 37% across England’s towns, 35% of residents said they have no religion here. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British stands at 96%.
Below 98% of UK towns: 22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
For 18 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care, fewer than in 67% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 39%.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 39% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Nayland counts 39% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 16% have no qualification (18%).
The towns around Nayland are all younger
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nayland | 963 | — | 55.3 | 37% | 23% |
| Great Horkesley | 2,232 | 3.1 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 35% |
| Bures | 1,183 | 4 mi | 48.4 | 27% | 25% |
| West Bergholt | 3,175 | 4.3 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 28% |
| Eight Ash Green | 1,769 | 5.6 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 27% |
| Colchester | 130,259 | 5.9 mi | 35.9 | 15% | 31% |
| Ardleigh | 1,042 | 5.9 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 26% |
| Hadleigh | 8,638 | 6.3 mi | 46.7 | 27% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Suffolk’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Suffolk (or England), summed the same way as Nayland’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Nayland’s residents
What is the population of Nayland?
The 2021 Census counted 963 people in Nayland’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Nayland?
The median age was 55.3 at the 2021 Census. 5.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 37% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Nayland?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 86% across Suffolk’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Nayland?
35% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Nayland good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Nayland’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.